State Rep. Danny Garrett says Alabama universities have “come very, very far” under the state’s DEI restriction law, pointing to changes across campuses as lawmakers prepare for another round of higher education reforms to take effect this fall.
Garrett (R-Trussville), chairman of the House Ways and Means Education Committee, said Tuesday on “The Jeff Poor Show” that university presidents and trustees have largely embraced the Legislature’s efforts to reshape campus policies since passage of Alabama’s 2024 law restricting diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“I think from where we started several years ago, we’ve come very, very far,” Garrett said. As one example, he said the University of Alabama eliminated approximately 300 programs while reviewing compliance with the law.
“I think that begs the question: How did we ever get to the point they had 300 programs that were doing, you know, going down that road?” Garrett said. “That has to do, I think, with the total abdication of what was called in academia to the woke agenda. And I think we’ve been trying to correct that.”
Alabama Act 2024-34, originally passed as SB129, took effect in October 2024 and prohibits DEI offices at public universities and other government entities and restricts institutions from requiring students or employees to affirm a list of defined “divisive concepts.”
Garrett said universities have since eliminated departments and programs, changed course offerings and made other structural changes. “We’re trying to turn a barge in some respects,” he said, adding that nearly every university president he and other lawmakers have spoken with has been “on board.”
Lawmakers are now moving into the next phase of their higher education agenda. HB580, sponsored by State Rep. Troy Stubbs (R-Wetumpka) and carried in the Senate by State Sen. Arthur Orr (R-Decatur), limits faculty senates at public universities to advisory roles, places final authority over curriculum with governing boards and requires institutions to establish periodic post-tenure review policies.
The law takes effect Oct. 1. Garrett said around 30 university presidents and board members recently met with legislative leaders in Montgomery and were told lawmakers expect the required policies to be ready by then.
Changes are already underway. Auburn University and Jacksonville State University have dissolved their faculty senates, while the University of Alabama System adopted new policies Friday requiring tenured professors at UA, UAB and UAH to undergo performance reviews at least once every five years and clarifying that faculty senates serve only in an advisory capacity.
Garrett said university administrations and governing boards have generally been receptive to the changes, but argued resistance remains among professors.
“I’ll just tell you that in the academic world, I bet you 90% of the faculty is left, and, you know, many of them far left, and we’ve got to work through that,” Garrett said.
Lawmakers are also considering tying compliance with state higher education laws to performance-based funding. Garrett and Orr sponsored the College and Higher Education Excellence and Results Act earlier this year, creating the CHEER Fund to reward public colleges and universities for measures including degree completion and workforce outcomes.
Garrett said he and Orr are discussing making compliance with state law a condition for institutions seeking that funding.
“If you’re not in compliance with the law, then you would not have the opportunity to participate in that type funding,” Garrett said.
He said the Legislature intends to continue monitoring implementation across Alabama campuses as the latest reforms take effect.
“It’s important to the Legislature,” Garrett said, “and we continue to see it through.”
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
